Epiphany

The world recognizes the heavenly in this tiny Child. And the Child recognizes the people of God in them. This is not a Christian child only; this Child belongs to the world.

Words: Joan Chittister in The Liturgical Year: the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life

Image: Chiefs Come From the East to See Jesus by John Giuliani

Christmas Day

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1: 4-5

Image: Mary Gives Birth to Jesus by John Giuliani

Advent, Day 12

"Mary is, in a certain sense, the community which is my Mother. It is her love that has brought us here and keeps the community together. It is her love I have known out under the cedars, and working in the fields and singing in choir. It is her love that has made me desire solitude, and she will fulfill that desire. She is my solitude and she is here. It seems I have to keep finding it out over and over again. "

Words: Thomas Merton [Journals 3:26]

Image: Navaho Madonna by John Giuliani

His Concern Is For Them

Tears. Wailing. Daughters. Mothers. Grief. Women beat their breasts and mourn openly, for the Son of Man, but his concern is for them and their children in the days of woe yet to come.

Words: "Stations of the Cross" from King of Peace Episcopal Church.

Image: "Station 8" by John Giuliani

Jesus Falls The First Time

"The weight is unbearable. Jesus falls under it. How could he enter our lives completely without surrendering to the crushing weight of the life of so many on this earth! He lies on the ground and knows the experience of weakness beneath unfair burdens. He feels the powerlessness of wondering if he will ever be able to continue. He is pulled up and made to continue." From The Stations of the Cross at Creighton University (online).

Seen above: Station 3 from the Stations of the Cross series by John Giuliani.